Literary Leftover Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Coming soon to Netflix on August 28, 2025. There is still time to read this funny and mysterious novel. Get to know the characters and all of the twists so you can compare it to the television adaptation.

Were you a fan of Murder She Wrote, Cagney and Lacey, or Rizzoli and Isles? Then you will love this novel for its humorous characters and a mystery that doesn’t reveal itself until the very end.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Literary Leftovers are book reviews and recommendations that do not contain recipes, but are books that I highly recommend.

The Thursday Murder Club

by Richard Osman

Outline and Tone:

I love hiking, especially hiking to the top of mountains, but when hiking up the view can sometimes fool you. Looking up, you think what you see is the summit until you get closer and realize it was a false summit and you still have further to go. This is exactly how I felt the mystery of this novel unfolded, through a series of false resolutions. Author Richard Osman repeatedly made me believe that the mystery was solved and then as the facts began to unfold, I realized it was not actually the final resolution.

The Best Quote:

“Coopers Chase always wakes early… Nobody here is grabbing toast before an early train to the office or packing a lunch box before waking the kids, but there is much to do nonetheless. Many years ago, everybody here would wake early because there was much to do and only so many hours in the day. Now they wake early because there is much to do and only so many days left.”

Point of View:

There are multiple points of view, changing each chapter. The most insightful point of view is told by Joyce writing in her diary. I hope they keep this in the Netflix show. Joyce’s diary entries, written in first person, don’t just move the plot forward, but show personality and relatability.

“Elizabeth and I went to see Donna and Chris, collecting Ron on the way… Donna does something with her eye shadow and I always mean to ask what it is, but I haven’t yet. Anyway, it was DCI Hudson doing the talking, and he was quite impressive in his way.”

The author: Richard Osman

Author Richard Osman has written 5 books in the Thursday Murder Club series. The most recent edition, We Solve Murders, is set to release September 30, 2025. He will be touring to help promote the novel. You can find his tour dates HERE. There is also more information about him and his books on Instagram and you can find release and pictures of the upcoming Netflix special on X. I certainly hope the Netflix special is a success so there will be more movies made of the remaining books of the series.

What is not to like?:

The novel is set in England and so uses terms such as DCI to refer to a detective. I am not familiar with British titles and so I just used context clues to figure out what they meant.

The verdict:

One of my favorite things to do is to read a book and then watch the movie. The characters are so entertaining in this novel, the movie is bound to be a success!

Book Statistics

The Thursday Murder Club

by Richard Osman

Rating: 4.25/5 Stars
Genres: Mystery, Crime
Series: Thursday Murder Club
Setting: Kent, England
Pages: 384 pages
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback, Audio Book
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Published by: Penguin Books (September 3, 2020)
Information Sources: Amazon, Goodreads, and Publisher’s website

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